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20 Feb 2013

Katharine McPhee in the "Good for You" fantasy sequence at the beginning of the episode.

Photo by Will Hart/NBC

And you need a translator to figure out the Hit List plot that Brooklyn potheads Jimmy and Kyle pitch to Derek, who agrees to help shape it (essentially playing dramaturg) as a backup project in case Bombshell doesn't materialize (unlikely, since it is the organizing force of "Smash").

As the episode opens, Karen is fantasizing herself starring in a Broadway production of Hit List; we first met its young creators in the Season Two premiere Feb. 5 (here's our previous "Smash" Report). In her daydream, Karen is singing a rock number called "Good for You" (by new series song contributor Drew Gasparini) as she is held aloft in a dance-party/concert/mosh-pit scene in the rock musical (microphone affixed to cheek, naturally). Much like Bombshell, the still-forming Hit List is made up of a bunch of good tunes and a crazy, paper-thin scenario (or, in this case, an outline scribbled on cocktail napkins, matchbook covers, Post-It notes, index cards and notebook paper — it's hard to take these guys seriously as creators of dramatic literature). Jimmy visits a mysterious former residence to retrieve his past notes about his show and gets attacked by someone there; surely the revelation of drug addiction, family dysfunction, violence and abuse will be unearthed in future episodes (these also happen to be the plot elements of Hit List, at least so far).